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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29802969">injury and introspection</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/persephonerights/pseuds/persephonerights'>persephonerights</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>dimension 20 alphabet 2021 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dimension 20 (Web Series), The Unsleeping City</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>I: Injury, I: Introspection, hints of pre-ricky/esther/pete, ricky does his self sacrificial thing, set between tuc1 and tuc2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 17:47:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,043</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29802969</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/persephonerights/pseuds/persephonerights</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After a nasty fight in the sewers, Pete finds out Ricky is hiding an injury, and it sounds like he might be doing that a lot which is...concerning to say the least.<br/>Written for I: Injury and Introspection for Dimension 20 Alphabet 21</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Pete Conlan | Pete the Plug &amp; Ricky Matsui</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>dimension 20 alphabet 2021 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2186469</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Dimension 20 Alphabet 2021</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>injury and introspection</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>pete's inner voice is hard because he's an ally beardsley character and i never know what they're going to say next but i hope you still like it &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="">
<p></p><div class=""><p>Pete was standing in the middle of the sewers, again, surrounded by his friends. How this kept fucking happening to them he would never fully understand. The sewers weren’t too bad, honestly, but they weren’t exactly fun either. The fight was pretty brutal, there was no Kugrash and his totems to help them this time. The cement floor was disgusting and slimy, which caused a lot of people to slip, even Ricky fell down.</p></div><div class=""><p>Ana and Amelia had been with them, tearing through enemies which had been pretty cool. They were terrifying as vampires, which was awesome since they were allies. Kingston hadn’t been with them, since he had a real person job that had crazy hours sometimes. Ricky was the only one who was there with real heals, so after the nastiness of the fight he had tried to heal everyone as much as he could before everyone split off. </p></div><div class=""><p>Sofia had to get back to the monastery, but Ricky and Pete had days off work in the first place, which was why they were there. All three of them helped each other out of the sewer and before she left Sofia turned to them and said, “Don’t forget to text me when you get home so I know you didn’t die on the way!” She waved and headed towards the ferry, as confidently as ever.</p></div><div class=""><p>Pete waved back and caught something out of the corner of his eye while he did. Ricky raised his arm to wave but quickly bringing it back down, his semi-permanent smile momentarily tightened. When Sofia was definitely out of earshot Pete turned to Ricky, “Are you okay?”</p></div><div class=""><p>Ricky looked shocked by the question, “Of course I’m okay!”</p></div></div><div class="">
  <p>It felt mean to do, of course Pete was gonna do it anyway, but to prove his point he poked Ricky in the side, right where he saw him get hit earlier. Ricky hissed a breath in between his teeth and gave Pete a look that Pete had never seen him make before. It was like he was angry but he didn’t know what angry was supposed to look like. It was kinda hot. Most of what Ricky did was at least kinda hot. But that wasn’t the point right now. </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Oh so you’re okay?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Maybe not 100%, but I will be with a little R&amp;R, I have IcyHot. Or I could just go to sleep and recharge my spell slots.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“You know you can’t just sleep on this! Those are your ribs!” Pete really didn’t expect Ricky to just brush off concern like this. Ricky gave Pete a knowing look before trying to shrug.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll be fine. I feel better already” </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“We’re going to St. Owens,” Pete tried to sound stern, authoritative, but instead it came out kind of scared.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Ricky and Pete had started walking, so they weren’t blocking the sidewalk, but now Ricky stopped, “We can’t go to St. Owens.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Why not? It’s where Kingston works.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Yeah it’s also where Emiko works, and I don’t need to stress her out. She’s been stressed out enough since she learned about the unsleeping city.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“So you’re not going to get medical help so you won’t stress your sister out?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“...Yeah?” Ricky looked at Pete like his answer was the most obvious thing in the world. Maybe it was to Ricky.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Fine, can I walk you to your apartment at least.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Of course man, I love when we hang out.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Pete really hoped that the fact that it was dark outside was enough to cover the fact that he was blushing, just a little bit. They walked in silence for a little while, but Pete was never very good at that. “Why didn’t you just heal yourself?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Other people needed heals.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Other people’s wounds were mostly superficial. No one would’ve blamed you for healing yourself. You got to take care of yourself too man.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Yeah I guess, Pete. I mean, I keep people safe y’know? And I help people now at Helping Hands, but it’s not the same thing as being a firefighter. Or having the Questing Blade. But I can heal people. That I can still do.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>an heal people. That I can still do.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>If Pete hadn’t been listening to closely he may not have heard the frustration in Ricky’s voice, or seen the tightness in his shoulders. Pete hadn’t really put a lot of thought into the fact that Ricky’s life had changed so drastically. Sure, they hung out a lot, but for a lot of it Pete has been wrapped up in his own shit. He knows Ricky understands but he wants to be there for Ricky too.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Hey man, you don’t need to always be the hero, you’re allowed to let other people take care of you.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Ricky nodded but Pete wasn’t sure if heard him, “For sure, for sure. When we get back to me and Esther’s place do you want to get takeout? Maybe hangout and watch a movie with us?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I’d love to.” Maybe when Ricky wasn’t listening Pete could figure out how to work out a system with Esther where they both make sure Ricky took care of himself sometimes too. Being around a real life Superman was weird, because it was easy to forget he was just as human as the rest of them. Maybe even <em>more</em> human than the rest of them. </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Suddenly it was really easy for Pete to remember when Ricky sacrificed himself for the greater good of New York City, and Pete wondered how often he did on a smaller scale everyday or every fight. How often did he take hits that the others couldn’t take? Or go without heals so other people would have them? </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Pete made a mental note to keep better track of Ricky during battles, maybe even bring it up with Kingston if he decided that didn’t break Ricky’s trust too much.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Ricky nudged Pete with his arm, “Pete?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Yeah?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I’m gonna be okay. I always am.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Yeah, you always are, aren’t you?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Looking at Ricky’s smile hurt, it was so happy it was almost blinding. Pete smiled too, just on pure instinct. He was going to make sure Ricky was always okay. </p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i hope you liked this! i wasn't sure where to end it so i hope this made sense &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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